


All Alone (at Christmastime)

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Art, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, F/M, Ficlet, Flirting, Holidays, Humor, Hydra (Marvel), Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Nostalgia, Office, Orphans, Planning Adventures, Politics, Romance, Shipscuses, Shopping, Silly, Undercover Missions, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 22:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2557943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since Halloween is past it's now the Holiday Season, so here is Christmas in November.  Shipscuses.  Coulson and Skye are alone for the Holiday week and plan a mission to infiltrate a HYDRA Christmas Party.</p><p>Title taken from the Aimee Mann song: http://www.metrolyrics.com/christmastime-lyrics-aimee-mann.html</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Alone (at Christmastime)

_Day 1_

 

"Looks like it's just you and me, then."

"Guess so."

They stared at each other across his office.

May had gone off to her mother's. Fitz and Simmons were back in the UK with their families. Mack had gone to his sister's, Triplett to his grandma's, and Hunter and Bobbi had somehow managed to slink off to parts unknown.  

No one ever knew where Koenig went.

It was just the two of them, the only two without any family to speak of. There was something comforting and awkward about it at the same time.

Unless, of course, HYDRA launched a campaign or aliens invaded. Then everyone went back to active duty immediately.

"We should go somewhere," he smiled politely, coming around the desk.

Outside the frosty panes, there was delicate snowfall and the cool-toned light of winter.

"Like where?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I dunno. Any place you've ever wanted to go?"

He was trying to be charming, but keep things light. The idea of spending Christmas on the base seemed kind of sad.

"Yeah, but not with my _boss_ ," she answered, laughing.

Coulson frowned.

"We should go on a mission," she offered, cheerfully.

"What do you have in mind? he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Undercover," she said, raising her chin slightly. "HYDRA has to have a Christmas Party."

"I doubt that," he said skeptically.

"Sir, even evil guys like holidays off."

Coulson winced a little, leaned back against his desk with his arms crossed.

"I don't think the team would like that. It's reckless."

"Coulson," she said, exasperated. " _It's Christmas_."

He couldn't help smiling.

 

  
_Day 2_

 

Skye had worked up fake identities for them.

"I don't think he would be into Derrida. He's a mid-level HYDRA agent, Coulson."

"Fair enough," he sniffed.

They were drinking hot cocoa and trading good-natured barbs about their alters.

It was strange, Skye thought to herself, Coulson dressed in casual clothes kind of snuggly looking on the couch next to her, leaning over her as they culled the details in her laptop.

She thought the mission had been a good idea, to keep it from feeling like they were on holiday break together, but it seemed like everything Coulson did ended up feeling just like that.

And he was wearing a henley and he kept pushing the sleeves up his arms. And his arms were...pretty much sexy.

"Oh, please, like your girl is a quasi-Socialist, more like a Fascist," he said, pointing at the screen. "You can't like Kahlo. Practice being a Fascist, Skye."

"Youthful indiscretion?" she said. He wasn't buying it. "I like pretty pictures?"

Coulson rolled his eyes.

"What am I supposed to talk to these people about?"

"You were able to talk to Ian Quinn," he reminded her. It was a bit smug.

"Because I _mistakenly_ admired him," Skye reminded him.

"Yeah, how did you fall for that one?" he asked, sliding his arm around the back of the couch.

"Hey, he looked good on paper," she said defensively.

"They always do," Coulson said, slyly, blinking innocently and taking a sip of his cocoa when she gave him a hard look.

Skye went back to paying attention to the profiles.

"You should probably like something terrible, like Sironi.  Big.  Ugly.  Immovable."

"Right."

 

  
_Day 3_

 

"I already have a suit," he said.

They were out walking among the other last-minute holiday shoppers, bundled up against the snow in winter clothes.

It was a small town, with an old fashioned square, and they had stopped, standing together in front of the sole department store.

"Yes, but not an ill-fitting middle managemement suit," she said, a bit of ah-ha to her tone.

Coulson sighed. She was right. He followed her towards the door.

"And your dress. Do we get to pick out something horribly middle-management for you?"

"No," she said, shaking her head.

The sound of bell chimes rang as they stepped in the door and dusted the snow off their feet.

It was _the_ department store, probably hadn't been renovated since the 80s when it was built. Coulson looked across the makeup counter and perfumes lined on the countertops.

"Huh, this is wierd," he said to himself. But, Skye heard anyway.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm in Gremlins," Skye said. "Have you ever seen that movie?"

"Yes. I have. But, no...I mean, it reminds me of Christmas shopping with my mother," he said, for a moment.

It was just a flash, but it had felt so real.

She watched the emotions play over his face. He looked happy. It was kind of strange, and a very attractive look on him.

"Let's go get me a horrid suit, then," he said, shrugging with a smile.

"Sounds like a plan," she said, following after him towards the men's section.

 

  
_Day 4_

 

"Okay, so, getting the invite was a _piece of cake_ ," Skye said, as they both practiced together at the firing range.

"Why do you think that is?" he asked.

"Because, nobody wants HYDRA people around for Christmas," she said. "I mean, it's kind of sad, but..."

" _They've earned it_ ," Coulson said, frowning, interrupting.

"I know," she said, laughing at him, stepping away from the rifle. "Simmons told me about her partner. How he was, like, really excited to unleash death and destruction. Can you imagine having that across the dinner table from you?  _Cutting into the turkey_?"

"Evil can be very mundane, Skye," he said, firing another round.

"I know Coulson," she said, leaning against the column. "I'm not five."

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Anyway," she answered. "They all gather together. They have this huge party every year on Christmas Day. They probably organize their To Do Lists of Evil for the next year. I bet we learn _something_."

"You tried to go higher up the food chain, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yeah, couldn't find anything on Whitehall," she replied with a sigh.

"Probably for the best."

"Nice grouping," she said, looking down at his paper target.

"Yeah, it's been good getting in some practice without distractions."

"Mmhm," she said, glancing over a him.

"What, Skye?" he said, reading the look on her face. She was holding back.

"I'm just concerned, sir," she started, folding her arms. "That you're not taking this mission seriously."

"I am," he said, defensive. "I think my grouping speaks for itself."

 

  
_Day 5_

 

"This is nice," she said, looking around the small Italian restaurant. It wasn't very crowded, being Christmas Eve.

"I thought it would be good to practice," he said. "We've never gone on undercover together before."

"Okay," she said.

"Put on your best HYDRA face," he asked, leaning over the table with his forearms.

Skye thought for a moment. It took just a second after asking herself: What would Grant Ward do?

"Chilly," Coulson said, sitting back. "Kind of cold and elegant. I'm convinced," he added, going for a piece of bread in the basket.

Skye started to smile. "Okay, now your turn."

Her eyes got big as she watched all the kindness drain out of his face. His eyes looking very listless and dark.

"Oh, stop, that's creeping me out," she said, taking a sip of her water.

"Skye," he said, leaning forward again as the waiter approached. "You can't make that face while we're working. Promise me."

"Got it," she said, looking up at the waiter and smiling suddenly. "Hi."

They got a couple of plates of pasta and some red wine.

He slid his hand across the table and placed it over hers while they were eating.

She fluttered her eyelids but maintained her composure and smiled back with chilly detachment.

Coulson found himself looking at her more closely than he should have.

 

  
_Day 6_

 

After working the room and keeping their middle-management predator faces on, Coulson pulled Skye onto the dance floor.

They had a nice bit of information to work the rest of the evening with. It had been easy, after Akins shared his bottle of expensive scotch, to get Martin Westen talking about the device he'd brought home for the weekend.

"I need a bath," she said, looking up at him, a disgusted expression on her face, as he pulled her closely to him, bumping shoulders with several other couples.

He told himself this was fine, to act overly possessive. It was his undercover persona and she belonged to Peter Akins, HYDRA Data Analyst, and no one else.

She looked up into his eyes, saw something that looked very familiar. She'd seen it in bars in Austin, when the good 'ol boys and the sons of the good 'ol boys had a little too much to drink. The political animals and the cowboys alike.

Lora Chen didn't like Akins except for one reason and one reason alone: he was good in bed. Coulson didn't need to know that detail, but Lora could. And Lora had picked out that horrible, unnecessarily expensive tie to go with the lousy suit he was wearing.

"Care to join me later?" she asked.

"For what?" he said.

"A tub, some champagne. Warm bubbles. It is Christmas after all, Peter."

"I'd love to," he said, his hands sliding down to her hips.

"As long as it's someplace nice," she said, demanding. "And not some cheap motel. You can have whatever you want."

Skye watched him swallow nervously, but his face held.

"I'll even buy you breakfast," he said, leaning forward to her ear. "I was thinking we could go upstairs, though. Get a preview?"

She smiled back at him, then kissed him teasingly on the mouth. Just a little bit of tongue. He leaned in towards her as she pulled back.

Then she turned and took his hand, lacing their fingers together and leading him up the stairs as he watched her body move beneath the dress.

 

  
_Day 7_

  
"We are good," Skye said, looking over the equipment in her hand.

"Yeah. Uh, I don't know what it is," Coulson said. "Do you?"

"Not a clue. But, I bet Fitz and Mack can figure it out," she said, setting it back down.

They were wearing their pajamas and standing in the lab together, after midnight. Skye had piled her hair on top of her head in a messy bun.

"You did good tonight," Coulson said.

"Thanks," she said, looking his face over. "You too. It's nice to see the real you again."

"Likewise," he answered, with a soft smile. "Although, that dress..."

"Sir," she started.

"Let's just say, it wasn't jeans and a flannel shirt."

She put her hands behind her back for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"This was fun, and I'm glad we got to spend the holiday together," he said, taking the leap. "Good idea. About the mission." 

"Merry Christmas, sir," she said, after a pause.

He hesitated for a moment and then leaned forward as she did the same and then they hugged.

"Sorry, for...groping you earlier," he said, his arms still around her. "Part of the..."

She leaned forward on her toes and interrupted him, pressing her mouth against his. Startled for only a moment, he grabbed her waist and kissed her back eagerly before she could pull away.

"Coulson," she said, desire in her voice, running her fingers up the nape of his neck.

Picking her up off the ground, he swung her into his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked, as he carried her off towards the private quarters.

"I still have to give you your Christmas present," he smirked.


End file.
